No Need for Rebirth
by Yamato Kyouryu
Summary: Relena kills Duo to get at Heero. It works; but not like Relena planned. Duo is reborn as their son, and will stop at nothing to avenge himself.
1. Default Chapter

~No Need for Rebirth~   
yaoi, some humor. a more serious, twisted fic. slight angst. non-yaoi lemon.   
[1/2 ; 2/H ; 3/4 ]   
Relena kills Duo to get at Heero. It works; but not like Relena planned. Duo is reborn as her and Heero's son, and will stop at nothing to avenge himself.   


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this was inspired by a short short two paragraph fic of the same plot, where heero married relena because duo had died, then the second paragraph duo is reborn and evilly announces he is here to make relena's life hell. er...dude. a good idea gone to waste. this is one of my favourite fics, my only lemon one as of when i write these notes, and also my most serious fic. i'm proud of it. except...DO NOT ask me where that potion suddenly came from because I dunno! >=D this also has Ling, Wufei's daughter in it, and I plan on using her in later ideas. Yay Ling!   
[For my complete archive of screwed up Gundam Wing fics, click!][1]   
contact me: IM - YamatoKyouryu; EMAIL - yamato@kyouryu.zzn.com 

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Relena Peacecraft stood tall, smoking gun in hand. Duo Maxwell twitched, sliding to the ground. He clutched his bleeding chest. Groaning in pain, he looked up at Relena, the deathmist fogging his eyes.   
"You'll...pay...I'll be back, Relena..."   
With that, Duo took his last breath, and fell limp. Relena smirked. "And Heero is mine."   
Sliding off her gloves, she placed the small note by Duo's body, and placed the gun into his hand. Giggling insanely, as only a sick freak would do after committing murder, she hopped away merrily. 

"UWAAAAAAAAA!" Heero's scream echoed. Relena frowned. _Heero should realize that i saved him! Now he can love me, not that stupid American boy!_   
Heero, shaking with grief and rage, picked up the small note next to his friend and lover.   
"_Heero...sorry...I_ never loved you. I killed myself because i wanted to go to hell. And...I think relena would make a nice replacement, don't you think so too, Heero? See-ya! _The Late Duo Maxwell._"   
Heero blinked, and jumped as Relena spoke. "Oh Heero, you must be so sad! Let me make it better." Walking over, Relena hugged Heero from behind. Heero just shook.   
"Why...why would he...?"   
Relena tsked. "He just realized that his presence on earth wasn't needed anymore. And he saw how much we belong together, sweety-Hee-chan!"   
Heero kept shaking. What was Relena's problem? But maybe...maybe he could make her feel better. But would this ache in his heart stay so strong? 

**_one month later_**   
"Do you, Relena Peacecraft, take Heero Yuy as your lawfully wedded husband?"   
"YES!" Relena grinned, spilling with ego and pride. She'd won!   
"Do you, Heero Yuy, take Relena Peacecraft as your lawfully wedded wife?"   
"Uhhh..." Heero looked out at the crowd. All of the world nation's highest officers were present, but in the front row sat a worried looking Quatre, Trowa who was watching some birds out the window, and Wufei, who had bubbles of sleep coming from his nose. Quatre caught Heero looking at them, and shook his head. He pointed to the empty seat next to him - of course, where Duo would have sat. Quatre had made sure to save that seat, which wouldn't be filled.   
"But..." Heero muttered. Relena sprang into giggles. The preacher went on. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."   
"But-HEY! MMpph!" Heero's protest was muffled as Relena whooped with joy and sprang on him, kissing him fiercely.   
Quatre sighed sadly, and glared at Trowa, who was smiling at the birds and waving at them. 

Heero allowed himself to be dragged along, as Relena ate the various foods laid out on the buffet table. He was relived when Quatre came over and pulled him aside to talk in private.   
"Did you really say yes?"   
"I dunno."   
"You didn't. What are you going to do?"   
"Well...i dunno."   
"I know you don't love her. And you KNOW i don't think Duo would kill himself."   
"I..." Heero shrugged.   
Quatre furrowed his brow. "Heero! What about your honeymoon?"   
"I dunno."   
"Grow up, Heero!" Quatre stomped off, grabbing Trowa by the arm and dragging him out, too. Wufei was still asleep in church. Heero stared at the wall. Honeymoon...? It might be fun to see what sex was like with a girl.   
"Duo." Heero said, and Relena turned to him. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"   
"Nothing." Heero stared at the wall now. It apparently WAS possible for him to become more lifeless and monotone then before. 

**_one year later_**   
"So how's Relena?"   
"Eh." Heero twisted the phone cord around his finger. "Fat."   
"Heero." Quatre grumbled into the phone. Ever since Relena had gotten pregnant, Heero had been even less responsive. His "I dunno's" had diminished to grunts in a matter of days. "Well, isn't it almost time? The doctors said today!"   
"Hn." Heero didn't really care. "'Said it's going to be a boy."   
"I know, Heero. i KNOW. Why can't you care a little more? I don't care if you love her or not, but geez..."   
"Quatre, she's CRAZY!" Heero muttered, and as he spoke, Relena hopped into the room. "Hee-chan! I'm having a baby today!" And hopped out.   
Quatre gulped. "Ok, i heard that...yeh, I agree, but geez..."   
Heero shrugged. "I dunno. I'm going to dump her at the hospital then go for a beer, wanna come?"   
"Ok. I'm bringing Trowa."   
"Fine." Click.   
Heero turned from the phone, and shouted. "Relena! Come on, let's go to the hospital!"   
Relena hopped in, her overly large stomach making her look more deformed than normal. "Why, Heero?"   
"Because i'm the man and i said so." Heero quickly picked her up, and headed for the hospital. 

"It HURTS!" Relena squealed. Heero winced. The doctor smiled warmly. "I know it hurts, sweety, now just push."   
Relena cried out in pain. She looked at Heero. "Hold my hand?"   
"No." Heero stared at the wall as Relena went on wailing and screaming. After nearly half an hour, the doctor said, "Good job! You did it!"   
Relena laughed. "Hehe, i'm special!"   
"Er, yeh." The doctor held a small bundle in his arms. He smiled, then looked down at the baby. "Hn...wierd..."   
"What?" Heero stood, remotely interested. He looked down at his baby, and blinked.   
The baby looked incredibly proud of itself if not slightly ticked off. Relena started whimpering and whining. "It's mine, let me see!"   
The doctor handed the small baby to Relena, who grinned. "Awwww-! Eeps!!" She cried out, as the baby was glaring at her as if it hated her to hell. She whimpered. "Baby-kins? Don't you love your mommy?" And she hugged it. "Hee-chan, lets name him Percival!"   
The baby started struggling and fighting at this, and after realizing he really couldn't, he started to scream at the top of his lungs. Heero snickered. "That's my boy." Relena looked truly scared. The doctor held his hands over his ears. 

"So? What do we call it?"   
"Him."   
Relena and Heero sat in the oversized living room of their oversized house, pondering. Heero got an idea.   
"Duo."   
"WHAT?!" Relena screeched. The baby just glared at her, then made happy baby sounds in Heero's direction.   
"Well, i think we should name him after my old best friend. It was because of him that i married you, Relena." Heero shrugged. Relena shuddered. "I don't want my son named after DUO MAXWELL!"   
The baby howled. Heero snarled, and grabbed him from Relena. "I'm the man, i want to name my son Duo after my good friend. SO fuck off. He doesn't even like you!"   
Relena's lower lip quivered. "But he's MY baby." She brightened. "MAYBE HE'S HUNGRY!"   
Newly named baby Duo screamed and clung to Heero. Heero shrugged. "I want my son to be tough. We should just use bottles from the start."   
Duo made happy sounds again, and Relena pouted. 

**_ten months later_**   
"HEEEEERO!"   
"What?" Heero looked up as he heard Relena calling him from Duo's room.   
"He said something, Heero quick!"   
Heero stood, grumbling. He wondered why Relena even bothered. The kid obviously hated her - he only ate what Heero gave him, only wanted Heero to hold him, and screamed if Relena tried to do anything remotely motherly. He also thought it was strange that Duo had purple blue eyes and brown hair - the same color that his old friend Duo Maxwell used to have. He made it upstairs, and looked into Duo's room. Relena was hopping around. "He said a WORD!"   
Heero rolled his eyes. "What word?"   
"Well, i dunno."   
Heero walked over, picking Duo up. Duo grinned insanely. "Kill."   
Trying to not grin, Heero frowned. "He said 'kill'."   
"AWWWW!" Relena squealed.   
"YOU." Duo had turned to look at Relena, and was grinning insanely at her. "Kill YOU."   
Heero snickered. Relena squealed. "He wants to play pretend!"   
"Er, yah." Heero decided to get away from the terribly hyper Relena, and, taking Duo, he walked downstairs. "Weird first words, son."   
"Hehehehehe..." Duo snickered. Heero sat him on the floor. "Uh, you play something quiet." Heero picked up his Guns Unlimited issue and, sitting in an overstuffed armchair, began reading.   
Duo stared at his toys. Various stuffed bears, a pink barbie car, and a pink puppy that told him it loved him if he touched it. Duo sniffed. Of course, Relena had the only say with what he was allowed to buy.   
_That bitch will get hers. Buying me a pink barbie car - how sick._   
Duo grabbed the puppy and tried to rip its nose off. The puppy chuckled. "I love you!"   
"KILL." Duo succeeded in pulling off its nose, and in succession, its face. He proceeded to chew on the voice box he found inside.   
"Thank the lord," Heero muttered, staring at his magazine.   
Duo got bored of mutilating his pink toys quickly. He proceeded to arrange the puppy's fuzz into a picture. He arrange the fluff until he liked his picture.   
It was a scythe. Duo snickered. Heero looked over, and blinked. "Hey...Duo, when did you learn to do that?"   
Duo stared at him. Heero kept talking. "My friend used to have something like that."   
Duo stared.   
"It was green...and...sparkly."   
Duo made gagging noises. Heero shrugged.   
"Ok, so it was more of a glow."   
Duo nodded in approval, then blinked as, screeching, Relena came down.   
"DUO MAXAMILLIAN YUY! LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO THIS POOR PUPPY!" Relena started scooping up the puppy's innards. Duo and Heero sniggered. Relena glared, then picked Duo up. "Come on! Mummy is going to buy you a nice new sweater. Pink. Would you like a Ken doll too, Duo?"   
Duo howled in misery, and Heero looked at him sympathetically. _Damn, he's weird...why is he so much like the OTHER Duo?_   
Relena carried the struggling toddler away. Heero was lost in thought.   
"Strange...strange." He forgot about it and went back to reading his magazine. 

**_one year later_**   
**_duo age: almost 2_**   
"Deck the halls with-eep! Duo, stop!"   
Duo giggled as he pressed his finger into the light socket, for the pure pleasure of hearing Relena get upset. Heero glared. "Let him have some fun, geez."   
"He might DIE! My precious Duo-widdlykins!" Relena cuddled her son, and Duo choked. "STOP. No like!"   
"Awww..." Relena set Duo down, and went back to decorating her Christmas tree. Duo stared, then started rooting through various decorations lying around. He finally found what he was looking for.   
It was a picture from when Heero and Relena were married. They has been married around Christmas, so the picture was around. Duo stared at the priest in the picture. He held it up to Heero. "Look, dad."   
"Hn?" Heero took the picture, and blinked at it. "Yah...what about it, Duo?"   
"Priest." Duo rocked back and forth.   
Heero raised an eyebrow, then looked at the picture again. Specifically at the priest - and his white and black collar. Like Duo had used to wear. Heero was sure this was what his son was indicating. The strange feeling rising in him again, Heero looked at Duo, who had gone back to pester Relena. His hair was getting long, and he screamed whenever they tried to cut it. He wondered...   
"Duo. Come here, i need help with um, this." Heero picked up a candy cane, and grabbed his son's hand, practically dragging the small boy away.   
Finally alone, Duo blinked up at Heero, wondering what they were doing. Heero turned Duo around, and started braiding his hair.   
Duo blinked again, the grinned. He waited until Heero finished. Finally, he felt himself being spun around, and Heero stared at him. It was uncanny. Duo smirked. Heero sat back.   
"Duo...WHY do you look EXACTLY like Duo?"   
"'Am Duo." Duo rocked back and forth, grinning.   
"I know...I mean, my old friend Duo. Who killed himself."   
"Didn't." Duo suddenly frowned. "'Was killed."   
Heero blinked slowly. "By who then?"   
Duo rocked back and forth more. "Rel-...mommy. Shot 'im. Bang. And he wants 'avenge." Duo snickered a little. Heero didn't understand.   
"How would you know this, anyways?" Heero was frightened.   
"I just do." Duo got up and walked back downstairs, leaving Heero truly baffled.   
Duo grumbled, wondering how Heero could be so stupid. He sneaked past Relena, who was happily hanging various things on the tree, including her Christmas Barbie. He got his coat on, and slipped out the door.   
_Quatre...Quatre...come on Maxwell, er, Yuy, you know where he lives..._   
Duo grumbled at himself, and kept walking down the street, searching for the house where he knew Quatre and Trowa lived. An old lady passing the other way stopped and bent down to Duo. "Oh, little boy, do you need help crossing the street, sweety?"   
"GO'TA HELL, LADY!" Duo screeched, and the woman rushed off, muttering "Oh dear, oh dear..."   
Snickering, Duo kept walking, until he reached the rather large house, ah, mansion, where he knew he'd find Quatre. Looking behind him, he searched the curving colony wall for his own house, wondering how far he'd come. Not seeing it, he shrugged, and walked up to the door. After a few minutes of struggling to reach the doorbell, Duo started banging on the door.   
A young women with light blond hair answered the door - probably one of Quatre's sisters. "Oh! You're the Yuy kid. Come in."   
Duo stepped into the warm house, and peered around. He knew he'd visited here before, but he didn't really remember too well. Quatre's sister cupped her hands around her mouth. "Quatre! We've got company!"   
Duo wasn't surprised when a little animal that looked like a kitten came skidding around the corner and pounced him. Duo squeaked. "HEY! Gettoff! Stop!"   
Trowa ran over, and picked up the lion cub. "NO. Bad...bad Sahim. BAD." Trowa wagged his finger at the kitten, who mewled. Duo stood up, growling. "Goddamn cat!"   
Trowa blinked in surprise down at Duo. "Uhh...sorry, she's just playful. She didn't mean to hurt you." Trowa raised an eyebrow at the small boy, before turning to Quatre, who had just shown up. He muttered, low enough so Duo couldn't hear. "Damn, Heero's kid is too much like the REAL Duo..."   
Quatre nodded, then looked down at Duo. "So, uh, Duo, what did you come over for? Does your mommy want to borrow the pink paint again?"   
Duo shook his head. "No. I jis' gotta tell you something." Duo glared at Quatre's sister, who sweatdropped nervously and left. Trowa was still holding the mewling lion kitten. Duo snarled at it. "Trowa, I don't like that thing! G'way, kitty!" Duo swatted at the kitten. Trowa glared. "Ok, I'll put her away, sheesh..." Trowa walked off, mumbling, and Duo grinned. He looked up at Quatre. "C'mon, les go somewhere private where no kitties or girls'll come bother us." Duo crossed his arms, and Quatre shrugged. "Er...ok...I know where we can go, i guess. Come on."   
And they walked down the stairs to Quatre's basement. 

   [1]: http://www.geocities.com/screwedfics



	2. Page 2

~No Need for Rebirth~   
yaoi, some humor. a more serious, twisted fic. slight angst. non-yaoi lemon.   
[1/2 ; 2/H ; 3/4 ]   
Relena kills Duo to get at Heero. It works; but not like Relena planned. Duo is reborn as her and Heero's son, and will stop at nothing to avenge himself.   


* * *

page 2   


* * *

Heero walked down the stairs, baffled, puzzled, confused. What was with his son, anyways? He looked around the living room, and rolled his eyes at Relena, who was struggling to put the star on the tree.   
"Heeroykins, help me please!" She whimpered, wobbling.   
Heero glanced around again. "Where did Duo go?"   
"I dunno, I think he- WHOA!" Relena slipped, landing painfully on her bottom. Whimpering, she rubbed it. "He went outside. Maybe for a walk."   
"RELENA!" Heero shouted. Relena's eyes widened. "He's BARELY two years old! You can't let him wander the colony alone! DAMMIT RELENA! Don't you care about him at all?! What's your PROBLEM?!" Heero stormed off, grabbing his coat as he left. Relena whimpered again. "I do care...but..." She looked down, crushed.

Quatre sweatdropped at what Duo told them. "Wait, ok. Start again?"   
Duo glared, crossing his little arms. "I dun wanna. Maybe if TROWA stopped playin' with his stupid CAT you'dve heard me the first time."   
Trowa grinned sheepishly, a lion cub draped over his shoulder and batting at his hair. Duo sighed. "Ok. Now look. I look like the real Duo because I AM-Trowa!"   
Trowa swatted a hand at Duo. "I'm listening!" He scritched the ears of his cub, which purred loudly. Quatre grinned nervously. "Just go on, Duo."   
Duo shook. "You guys don't understand. I'll just wait until Dad might understand. Its SERIOUS. I have to kill Mom!"   
...   
The basement rang with the last words Duo said. Trowa and Quatre stared at him.   
"Kill Relena? What...why would you want to kill your mom, Duo?"   
"She killed me."   
"Uhh...no she didn't...Duo, you're alive, look!" Trowa reached out, poking Duo. Duo pushed his hand away. "NO. I'm only alive because...because I was reborn!"

Heero walked down the street, following the trail of moved pebbles and bent grass. He could tell which way Duo'd gone, using his soldier's skills. Staring at the ground, Heero couldn't stop the memories.   
A kiss, a touch, a cry, a ring...Heero shook his head and looked at his hands. He'd always told Relena that the second ring he had was taken from an Oz soldier he killed. No one knew he'd ever been married to Duo. But who needed to know? He was married to someone else now, he had a home, and Duo was dead, dead...he focused his mind back on task, to find his son.   
His son, with the name and face that reminded him painfully of his lost lover. He wondered why he had tortured himself into braiding the boy's hair. Why...? He knew it would only cause him more pain. Dammit, he missed Duo Maxwell...   
Heero stopped, and looked up. He was at Quatre's mansion. _Should have known, _he thought. He knew Duo liked seeing Quatre and Trowa. He blinked as Duo came out, looking seriously angry and upset. The red around his eyes told Heero he'd been crying.   
Duo looked up, and saw Heero. "DAD!" Duo started to cry, and ran forward, flinging himself at Heero. Heero lifted the small boy, wondering. "Duo...what's wrong?"   
"They don't believe me! They won't believe me...what do I have to do to prove it?" Duo sobbed into Heero's shoulder, and Heero looked alarmed.   
"C'mon, let's go home..."

Duo sat sniffling and whimpering by the tree. _What in hell is wrong with me?! _he thought. _I know better than to start crying like a baby over something as stupid as Quatre and Trowa not believing a story as fucked as mine is! _Duo sniffed. _Maybe I'm just acting my age..._   
He blinked as Heero sat down next to him. "Ok Duo...what was it that they wouldn't believe? Could you tell me?"   
Duo shook. "I...I can't...because...it would hurt you." Trembling, Duo got up and walked down the hall, climbing the stairs to his room. Heero sighed. Hurt him? Why would anything Duo had to say hurt him?   
Duo sat in his room, hugging his knees. He knew no one would believe him.   
_They don't need to know, anyways. I'll kill her on my own._   
Trying not to cry, he climbed into bed and turned off the lamp.

**_two years later_**   
**_duo age: almost 4_**   
_Another Christmas._   
Heero looked out his bedroom window, sighing. He _still_ wondered what Duo had meant, two long years ago. Ever since then, Duo had become silent. He still avoided Relena, but now he wasn't as close to Heero either. Relena thought Duo was scared - he'd be starting preschool soon. But Heero knew that wasn't it.   
_And why don't you ask him, Heero? Why are you so afraid to find out what's wrong?_   
Heero shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't know why something inside him made him afraid to question Duo, but he had a feeling that Duo was right - whatever it was, it would hurt Heero.   
Relena skipped past him, overly cheerful. "Darling, come on! We must start wrapping gifts! Du-" Heero suddenly turned and hissed at Relena. "Shut up! He still thinks it's Santa, you idiot!"   
Relena put a hand to her mouth. "Ooooohhh..."   
Duo listened from his room, laughing weakly. Of course he knew it wasn't Santa, but it made his parents happy when he got excited over the fat man. _Acting, acting, my life is a play, and no one understands..._   
Duo heard Relena and Heero go downstairs, and the ring of the doorbell. Seconds later, he heard Quatre and Trowa's voices. Sighing to himself, Duo got dressed and lugged himself downstairs. He didn't look at the visitors.   
Quatre saw Duo, and bit his lip. Ever since he had laughed at Duo's story of being reborn to kill Relena, Duo had seemed to...well, to hate him. Quatre couldn't get near Duo, earning a glare when he tried. He felt bad, but he just couldn't believe the story.   
Trowa had brought one of his cubs along. He set it down, and patted it. "Go play." Almost immediately it pounced Duo, who growled loudly and pushed it away. Heero raised an eyebrow. "Trowa, do you train those things to attack my son?"   
"Uhh...no." Trowa looked down guiltily. Quatre snickered despite himself. "Don't worry Heero, he used to train them to knock over cups full of liquid."   
Relena looked around. "Hrm...why doesn't Wufei ever come to call?"   
Quatre rolled his eyes. "He's on another colony, and last I heard, him and Sally have a few kids. Doubt he wants to talk about it."   
Relena frowned. "I'll bet THEIR kids don't resemble dead people."   
Heero turned quickly and glared. Quatre gasped. "RELENA!"   
Relena shrugged. "What? Its not my fault that my kid looks like that ugly guy who used to be in your group!"   
Duo slammed his hand down on the coffee table and stomped up to his room, eyes brimming. Relena was grinning stupidly, and called out. "Not that YOU'RE ugly, sweetums!"   
Heero raised his hand as if he were going to hit Relena, but he held back. His fists shook with anger. "Relena, I know you didn't LIKE Maxwell but you could have some respect and not talk about him like that!"   
Relena shouted back. "WELL SORRY! I don't really think he's ugly! And he should know that! You raised him soft, Heero!"   
Quatre sweatdropped at the fight he saw brewing. Standing quickly, he headed up the stairs. "I'll just...go see Duo."   
The shouting continued as if Quatre hadn't spoken.   
Duo sat on his bed, and he was glaring at the wall, his mind racing with various ways he could destroy his mother. Quatre knocked lightly, poking his head in. "Duo...?"   
"Go. Away." Duo glared at the wall.   
Quatre sighed. "Duo, you know Relena didn't mean what she said. She wasn't talking about you, anyways."   
"Humph." Duo glared.   
Quatre sat down on the edge of the bed, and Duo turned away from him quickly. Quatre smiled weakly. "You say you're Duo Maxwell, reborn as Duo Yuy. If that's true, you're acting awfully immature, Destroyer."   
"It was the GREAT Destroyer, Winner." Duo mumbled to himself, still staring at the wall. Quatre sighed. "What, did you dad tell you about that?"   
"No." Duo stared, eyes brimming with tears again. "I know you don't believe me, so get lost. Uncle _Quatre._ Dad has Zero back in the warehouse. Maybe you could go pilot it and blow everyone up. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Uncle _Quatre_?"   
Quatre flinched. "That was a long time ago, Duo..." Quatre's heart beat faster. Why would Heero tell Duo all of this? Why hadn't Quatre thought to question Duo before? That would tell him if this Duo really was THE Duo. He immediately thought of something that he knew Heero wouldn't have taught Duo.   
"Duo."   
Duo turned, glaring, his eyes red. "What."   
Quatre moved his lips, not making a sound. Duo blinked. "You...you'll believe me if i can read what you're saying?"   
Duo gasped as he was suddenly in a tight embrace. He blinked. "Wha...?"   
Now it was Quatre who's eyes brimmed with tears. He hugged Duo close. "Sure have missed you, Maxwell."   
Smiling, Duo knew Quatre believed him now. Maybe he'd actually succeed in his mission. His mission...   
Relena glared through a crack in the door. _I don't know what's going on here, but I know how to find out. _She turned from the door, the plan forming in her mind. If her son was really Duo Maxwell...she cackled softly to herself before heading back downstairs.   
"So...why did you come back? As...as Heero's son?"   
"Relena." Duo's voice shook. "RELENA."   
Quatre blinked, confused. "What...what about her? What did she do?"   
"Can't say." Duo hugged his knees to his chest. "Not yet. Maybe...no." He sighed.   
Quatre looked uncomfortable. He knew something that he had never even told Trowa, that no one else knew except Heero and Duo. Sighing, Quatre reached into his pocket and pulled out something small, golden.   
"Duo. I...I was given this after you died. Heero didn't want to take it. I guess...you should have it now."   
Duo looked up at Quatre, confused. Quatre dropped the small ring into Duo's tiny hands, then stood up. "I'm going to go now. I'd like to talk to you more, Duo, tomorrow, ok?"   
He smiled at Duo before leaving, but Duo didn't see. He was staring down at the little ring. His wedding ring. His soul was torn. He didn't love Heero the way he used to...but...   
Duo shoved the ring under his pillow and buried his face in his blankets, falling asleep in minutes.   
Heero came up a half hour later, flicking the light off in Duo's room as always. But this time he lingered at the doorway, staring at his small, sleeping son as long as he could see him in the dark.

"Up! Up, rise and shine, sweety!'   
Relena plucked Duo out of bed around 8'am the next morning. Duo was too sleepy and upset to protest as Relena tore off his pajama's and dressed him in a black shirt and pink overalls. She had already left the house and had gone down the driveway when Duo finally woke up for real. Right when he noticed Relena carrying him, he cried out and struggled to get free. She held him fast.   
"We're going to a little historic site I think you'll enjoy, Duo."   
Heero woke up with a start from his troubled dreams. He had to see Duo. Jumping out of bed, Heero pulled on a bathrobe and ran into his son's room.   
"Duo, I-"   
But he stopped there. Duo was gone, and so was Relena. Heero, confused, walked over to Duo's bed, which was terribly mussed as though he had been tossing and turning. Right there in the center of it all, a little golden ring glinted. It's twin shined back from Heero's hand.   
Heero trembled, reaching out to take it. His fingertips had barely brushed it before the realization that Relena had taken Duo somewhere...somewhere...   
And Heero knew. He raced to get clothes on, hoping he wasn't too late.   
"LET. ME. GO. NOW!" Duo bit down on Relena's hand, snarling, but she held tight.   
"No, Duo, we're almost there...here we go."   
Relena set the small boy down, and Duo looked around him. A church.   
A graveyard.   
Graves.   
Duo knew. He whimpered, backing away, but Relena grabbed his hand and led him forward.   
"I thought, you must want to meet this famous Duo Maxwell you're name after, honey!"   
"NO!"   
"So, let's see...mm...here! Here we go."   
"NO!" Duo screamed. Relena, an evil glint in her eye, dragged him over and forced him down onto the earth. She held him fast by his shoulders, staring at the gravestone.   
DUO MAXWELL   
There was never a cheerful face more missed on this earth. A part of Duo Maxwell will never die in us. There will never be another like him.   
Duo stared, unable to move, unable to pull away. Relena leaned down to whisper in his ear.   
"There is a tragic story behind this poor boy. He always thought he and your father were a real pair. Really close. More than friends. He thought Heero LOVED him."   
Duo shook from fear and confusion. Why was she doing this?   
"Poor Duo Maxwell didn't know it, but Heero really loved me. He always did. After a while, your father got tired of putting up with Duo's antics. We planned it together. Plotted it ourselves. It was Heero's idea, really. We killed Duo Maxwell."   
Duo trembled harder, it wasn't true, he knew it couldn't be true, he knew it. Heero had...had married him. Relena's words stabbed into Duo like hot knives.   
"Right after we got rid of the rat, me and Heero got married right away. Apparently Duo Maxwell thought Heero had married him. So funny...so funny. Because it was all fake. Heero got the rings out of a toy machine. And Duo...he fell for it like a stone in water. But you don't have to worry about him. He's right underneath the ground you're sitting on, rotting away, gone forever. I bet the bugs in the dirt ate his disgusting braid first."   
Duo's eyes slowly glazed over, and he slumped forward slightly. Thoughts raced through he head but they were gone before he could think about it too much. He just stared at the ground, stared at the ground where he was buried...rotting, just like Relena had said...   
"RELENA!"   
"Oh!" Relena jumped as Heero appeared next to her, gun in hand.   
"What did you say, Relena."   
"Nothing, Heero, I just thought he might want to see-"   
"RELENA, GET LOST! JUST GO AWAY!"   
Heero aimed the gun, and Relena scurried away. Once out of Heero's sight, she slowed down, and smiled. _I win._   
"DUO. Duo!" Heero picked up the small boy, looking into his glazed over eyes. Duo looked dead.   
"No...Duo...please...I know now...you can't...PLEASE...talk to me..."   
Duo slowly looked up at Heero, his eyes coming into focus. He remembered. All of it. Duo screamed, struggling.   
"NO! LET ME _GO!_"   
"Duo?!"   
"GET AWAY FROM ME! JUST GET AWAY FROM ME!"   
Heero, startled, set Duo down on the ground. "Duo, calm down! It's ok..."   
"NO! IT'S NOT OK!" Duo stepped back, tears flowing from his eyes, his small hands clenched into fists. "I KNOW THE TRUTH NOW! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE...H...HEERO! GO TO _HELL!_" Duo stared for a moment more, before turning and running from the graveyard.   
Heero just sat there, stunned. What had happened to Duo?


	3. Page 3

~No Need for Rebirth~   
yaoi, some humor. a more serious, twisted fic. slight angst. non-yaoi lemon.   
[1/2 ; 2/H ; 3/4 ]   
Relena kills Duo to get at Heero. It works; but not like Relena planned. Duo is reborn as her and Heero's son, and will stop at nothing to avenge himself.   


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page 3   


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"Quatre, you have to help me...just come over."   
"NO, Heero! Look, I can't right now! Wufei is visiting today and I just can't leave until he gets here!"   
"Quatre...Duo is DYING...I can't...I mean...and I..." Heero almost dropped the phone and fumbled with it, keeping hold and sighing.   
"Look, Heero...you know, right? About...about Duo?"   
"...Yes. I know. All the more reason why you have to help me."   
"Alright, just give me...until tonight, I can get out then. I've gotta go now, ok? Good luck...goodbye."   
"Yah." Heero listened to the click of the phone, and sighed, putting it down and turning to look at Duo. Or, better put, the back of Duo's head. He was sitting in one of the armchairs in the living room, staring. He hadn't eaten for three days and his eyes were glazed over. He was slightly slumped to the right and didn't acknowledge when Heero tried to talk to him. Relena didn't even seem to notice his condition. She sat down next to him, holding a bowl.   
"Popcorn, honey?" She smiled and offered Duo the bowl. Duo didn't do anything.   
"Alright then, that's fine. Want to watch something on TV? No? How about a movie? Alright, if you say so, sweety..."   
Heero stomped over and roughly pulled Relena to her feet. "Listen, BITCH, you just stay away from him, it's your fault he's like this!"   
Relena smiled. "I...know."   
Frowning, Heero let her go. "Know?"   
"I know about Duo! I know he's really...Duo Maxwell! I KNOW!" Relena laughed.   
Heero's mind raced. He couldn't let Relena know. He had to...to...   
"Duo Maxwell? He might have brown hair and blue eyes but...do you honestly THINK Duo Maxwell could be our son?" Heero laughed for some effect. Relena faltered. "Um, well...he sure...seems like him and...he freaked out at Maxwell's grave!"   
"Oh course he did. He doesn't understand death yet. And you tell him someone with his name is rotting under the ground?! And who knows what else you told him!"   
"I...I DIDN'T! I just...told him um...a make-believe story that you and me were plotting to kill Maxwell and that's why he was dead..." Relena looked down.   
"You...you told him WHAT?!" Heero looked at Duo again, who didn't seem to have heard or cared.   
_That's why he's really like this. He thinks that what Relena said was true. That I never loved him and helped to kill him. But...didn't he kill himself? No..._   
Heero looked at Relena. Of course. She'd done it.   
_ And he's back for revenge..._   
Heero stumbled back, in shock. It was clear now. He stared at Relena, and raised his hand to strike her. She screamed and ducked, running out the door.   
"YAH! RUN! JUST GET OUT OF MY SITE! IF DUO NEVER GETS BETTER...I...I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU, RELENA!"   
The door slammed as she ran out and Heero ran over to Duo, kneeling.   
"Duo...you didn't believe what Relena said...about me..."   
Nothing.   
"Duo...please... belive me...she was just testing you...you've GOT to pull our of it and eat something, please Duo!"   
Nothing. Duo slumped more to the right.   
"Duo, when...when you...died, I...I lost it...I was just how you are now...I would have given anything...ANYTHING...just to...see you again...hold you again...and now for four years, I...I have! And I...I didn't even know it!" Heero laughed quietly to himself.   
Duo slowly turned, looking at Heero questioningly. How could he belive him?   
Heero saw that he had somewhat broken through.   
"Duo..."   
He unfolded his hand. In it were two rings. They glinted in Duo's eyes as he softened, brightening. His eyes glistened.   
"He...Heero..."   
Duo quietly slumped forward, hugging Heero tightly around the waist, sobbing. Heero smiled and smoothed Duo's hair back gently.   
_I knew I could get through..._   
He hugged Duo back, trying not to cry himself.

_ Ring. Ring._   
Almost 15 minutes later, the doorbell rang. Heero let go of Duo and went to answer it.   
"Heero! I finally came...is he ok?" Quatre was at the door, peering over Heero's shoulder anxiously.   
"He's fine now." Heero almost smiled, and stepped back to let Quatre in. Quatre grinned sheepishly. "I brought company."   
Quatre stepped in, but Heero didn't see any company. He closed the door. "You...brought your Invisible Friend, did you? Will he have some tea then?" Heero smirked, and Quatre shook his head, pointing down.   
"No. She's not invisible and her name is Ling. She's visiting with Wufei and wanted to come along."   
Heero looked down, blinking at an incredibly small Chinese girl with black hair, pulled back in twisty pigtails. She clung to Quatre's leg.   
"So...ok. Er, come in."   
Duo peeked over the top of the chair at Quatre and Ling. Heero shrugged at him. "Who's that?" Duo pointed.   
"Ling. She's Wufei's daughter. Ling...this is Duo...Mr. Yuy's son. You...wanna say hello?"   
Ling peeked up at Duo and blushed. "'Lo."   
Duo grinned. "Hi!" He frowned at the way she was blushing. "Does she have a crush on me already?"   
Ling let go of Quatre's leg and ran into the kitchen. Duo stared. "Oops."   
Sighing, Quatre sat down on the couch. "She's terribly shy. She won't even look at Trowa, I don't know why she likes me so much. But she's sweet. She's nearly four...like you, Duo."   
"Oh." Duo sank back down in his chair and glared at nothing in particular. "Well I...don't like girls. Sorry." He crossed his arms. Quatre sweatdropped. "He...seems normal...what was the matter?"   
Heero opened his mouth to answer, but Duo cut in. "RELENA was the matter. She lied to me! She ALWAYS lies to me! And I really believed her! I hate being related to that fucking bitch! She can just...DIE! Like...she did to me!" Duo slammed his little fist on the chair's arm. "She ruined my life to get at Heero and it worked! RUINED. MY. LIFE! And Dad's! Heero's! WHATEVER!" Duo shook. "I'm leaving."   
He hopped down and headed up to his room. Heero sighed. "Well I just want to know how he plans to...kill her. I mean...he's only four."   
Quatre shrugged. "I bet he can do it. Do you...I mean...would you be...upset?"   
"Upset! HAH! No." Heero stared ahead, shaking. "She killed Duo when he was my partner and now she tortures him as our son. And I won't ever love anyone else. I'm done for. My life is practically pointless. At least Duo will still be with me. Even if he's my kid and not my lover."   
Quatre felt guilty, and strangely lucky. He reached out to pat Heero's shoulder. "Well, at least-"   
"AAAUUGGHHH!"   
Heero and Quatre jumped up as they heard Duo shouting from his room. "Duo?"   
They ran up and slammed the door open. Duo's room was a mess. Ling stood by the far wall, looking petrified, and Duo glared at her.   
"What did you do to my room?!"   
"I..."   
"You've wrecked it!"   
"I was just..."   
"Kids are so stupid! Stop liking me and just go to hell!"   
"DUO!"   
Heero stepped forward and held Duo back. "Duo, be quiet! She was just...I don't know..."   
"Ling, why did you do this?" Quatre tried to be calm, but his voice shook.   
"I was just...curious..." Ling's eyes watered and she ran past everyone and out the door.   
Duo drooped. "Sorry I shouted at her...I just..." He shook his head. "I'll go make up with her. Sorry."   
He ran out, and downstairs.   
"Hey...Ling? You there, Ling? I'm sorry!" He checked the kitchen, the dining room..."Ling? Ling!"   
Ling was in the family room, curled up in the armchair Duo had been in. She looked startled as he walked over.   
"Hey...look, I didn't mean to yell at you. Forgive me?"   
Looking up, Duo was startled to see Ling was crying. "I was weak...weak to do that. WEAK!" She slammed her fist down, then covered her face again. Duo sweatdropped. "Oh God...is Wufei still on that whole WEAK thing? HA-ha! That's funny! Look, you weren't weak. Just curious. Alright? It's perfectly ok."   
Ling looked up, wiping her eyes off. "Just...don' tell my dad, ok?"   
"Alright." Duo smiled, and Ling smiled back.

"Tell me again?"   
Duo and Ling had gone back up to Duo's room, cleaned it, and now Ling and Duo sat on the floor across from each other, Ling claiming she knew how to help Duo. She held up a small glass vial. "My dad knows all about you, Duo. I have to give this to Heero. It will help you kill Relena!"   
"How...how will it help me kill Relena?" Duo blinked, perplexed.   
"I can't tell you...because I don't know. But you have to give it to your dad, Duo! My dad will tell him what to do with it soon!"   
Taking the small vial, Duo stared in at the water-like substance in it. "Ok...I'll give it to him."   
"Alright, Duo! I gotta go now..." Ling fell silent. They could both hear Quatre calling to her. She turned to Duo once more, a sparkle in her bright Chinese eyes. "Maybe we'll meet again someday. Good luck to you, Duo Maxwell!"   
She planted a kiss on his cheek before running downstairs. Duo blinked, bright red.

Heero shut the door after watching Quatre and Ling leave. He turned around to see Duo coming down the stairs, looking dazed.   
"Hey...Da...er...Heero?"   
Heero smiled. "What?"   
Duo looked over, still looking dazed. "How's Hilde doing? Do you know?"   
"Yes - I do. She's on this colony, but the other side of it. I saw her last year sometime, shopping, I think. We talked a bit..."   
"About...what?"   
"Stuff. And you." Heero shrugged. "She's keeping up the scrap yard, by herself. She says it's tough, but it brings the money in. Thing is...she has this...hollow look to her. I dunno. I think your death really messed her up, Duo. She didn't come to your funeral or my wedding. She was invited to both." Sighing, Heero smiled. "Don't worry about it. She's ok."   
"Oh. Hey um...have you heard anything from Relena?"   
"Oh yah. She's staying with her brother until tomorrow afternoon, I think. Scared I'll kill her after what she did. Not that I blame her, I wish I could."   
He winked at Duo. "But that's your job."   
Duo looked down. "I think...I think maybe you should go out tonight. And I'm very little. I might...need a baby-sitter."   
Slowly it dawned on Heero what Duo meant. "Oh...yeh...I was gonna go visit Wufei and Ling tonight...I was. And you're right, you're too little to stay here on your own. I'll go call someone to stay with you."   
Heero stood up and Duo beamed. He wasn't sure why a happiness filled him when he thought of Hilde, but it did.   
_Maybe it's because I CAN'T love Heero anymore..._   
He shrugged to himself, and ran upstairs to his room to get ready.

"Hey..DUO! Before I go...well hold on."   
Duo was sitting on the couch, nervously, staring at the door. He watched Heero run upstairs, then run back down with something in his arms.   
"Put this on. It's big for you, but it outta be ok."   
Duo took the shirt from Heero's arms. It was...   
"Heero...this is one of my old shirts!" Duo's eyes watered, and he hugged it. Heero grinned sheepishly. "I've had that for...six years. You left it at my house one time..."   
There was an embarrassed silence, which Duo broke by struggling to pull his shirt on. He stood up, and looked down at himself. The shirt went past his knees, touching his feet. He grinned. "Hey...it works. It smells like you, Heero!"   
Heero stayed silent. He didn't feel like explaining how he'd held it all that time, draining and savoring each last bit of Duo smell left in that shirt.   
The doorbell rang and Duo jumped. "HELP!" He scrambled onto the couch and ducked down. Heero laughed, and went to get the door.   
"Hi Hilde...thanks for coming so far...no one else would sit for him..."   
"It's alright." Hilde stepped in and smiled, though it was an empty smile. Heero pointed over to the couch. "He's over there...I think he's shy about girls. I outta be back later tonight...and if you need me I'm just down the road. Oh, he has to take a bath and be in bed by 11! His mom's rule. If he's watching a movie, though, he can-"   
Hilde laughed. "I got it, I got it. I'm sure he knows the rules."   
Heero nodded. "He runs and hides...but never lies." Winking, he shut the door. Unnerved by Duo's old saying, Hilde walked over to the couch.   
"So...Duo...eep." Hilde laughed. Duo wasn't anywhere to be seen, except for a lump under one of the couch pillows.   
"Don't be shy. I'm not that ugly."   
Duo's muffled voice could be heard from the lump. "I know you aren't. But I'll scare you."   
"No...nothing scares me. Come on...!" Hilde flipped the pillow up.   
Duo looked up at her, wincing. Heero was right - she had hollows under her eyes, her hair looked more mussed, and her once bright pink hat was black. She stared down at Duo.   
"You...you..."   
"Look like Duo Maxwell?"   
Hilde looked down, eyes watering. "Please...don't."   
Duo hopped up, hurting inside to see her so sad. "Aw, Hild'...don't cry." He hugged her leg and grinned up at her. "If you don't cry I'll tell you a secret."   
Hilde looked down at Duo's grinning face and had to smile a little. "Alright...I hope it's a good secret."   
"It is!" Duo blinked, deciding to act his age for a change. "Carry me." He held his arms up.   
Hilde laughed despite herself, and lifted the small Duo. "All right. So tell me this big secret.

He did.   
...an hour ago.   
After realizing what Duo was talking about, Hilde just stared, then hugged him tightly without a word. She'd been like this for just about an hour. And Duo liked it at first, but now he was starting to fall asleep.   
"Hey...Hild'..."   
"HILD'! That's the name you always used to call me, Duo..."   
"I'll call you even more names if you don't let up!"   
"Oh...Duo, I'm sorry." Hilde pulled back and set Duo down on the couch again, and Duo was shocked to see the bright look on her tearstained face.   
"Duo...you have to let me...babysit you again...so we can talk more..." Hilde wiped her eyes off with her sleeve. Duo grinned. "Aw Hilde, Dad...Heero...won't be back for a while. We can talk now."   
"No...no. You...you have to take a bath and be in bed by eleven." Hilde sniffed, wiping her eyes off again.   
"Ok. I'll take a bath. Wanna help me?"   
"DUO!"   
"Hilde, I'm only four! C'mon."   
Hilde blushed dark red and turned the other way. "No...I'm sure you can manage on your own."   
"Oh...ok. 'Bye." Duo climbed down and headed upstairs, then made an exaggerated falling-over moment, banging against the ground.   
"OW! Ow...OW! My um...LEG! OW! HILDE! OW!"   
"What?!" Hilde jumped up and ran over. "What happened? Your leg?"   
"It...it really hurts. You need to carry me, Hilde." Duo's eyes watered as he held his arms up. Hilde frowned. "Duo, that's so fake. You did this twice before trying to get out of work. I let you and I won't fall for it this time!"   
"Hilde..." Duo sniffed. "Ok. I can tell you hate me." He got up and hop-limped over to the stairs, slowly attempting to crawl up, whimpering and wincing. Hilde winced too.   
"OK! Duo...stop. I'm sorry. I'll carry you."   
Duo grinned as Hilde picked him up and walked upstairs. He pointed. "That way. Turn there. And in there."   
Hilde was stunned. "This house is...HUGE! God..."   
Duo laughed. "Relena is rich. I really can't decide if I liked growing up on the streets or this house better. On the streets at least I didn't have to wear pink and see her ugly face each day." Duo scoffed, then pointed. "That's the bathroom."   
Hilde held her breath in. It was more like a private poolhouse. The "bathtub" looked like a huge spa, and there were what looked like hundreds of various soaps and shampoos.   
It was all pink.   
Duo hopped down from Hilde's arms and struggled to pull off his huge shirt. Hilde looked away, then blinked and looked back.   
"Hey, Duo...that's the shirt from my picture!"   
She pointed at all small stain on the collar, and Duo stop fighting it and blinked. "Huh?"   
"The picture I had the guy at the park take." Hilde reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out a small photo, handing it to Duo. Duo grinned at it. He was maybe 17, before he had gotten married. Hilde was smiling sheepishly and Duo was grinning widely, his hand behind Hilde and giving her bunny ears. There was a brown stain on his collar that, Duo remembered, was caused by spilt ice cream earlier that day.   
"Oh! Hehe...yah, I remember that." Duo gave it back to Hilde quickly, the feeling that he wished he could be his normal age starting to tear at him once more.   
He reached over, turning the water on, and began pulling off his clothes once more. Hilde turned away, scarlet again.   
Duo climbed into the now filled tub, and watched Hilde. "Wanna help me?"   
"You can do it yourself!" Hilde blushed more and stayed turned away. Duo frowned. "Fine. You're boring, Hilde."   
He rested his chin in his arms, staring over the rim of the tub at Hilde, who's ears were also red.   
_Is she cold, or embarrassed? Whatever she is, she's boring..._   
Duo yawned, soon lulled to sleep.   
_Oh Duo...I'm so glad you're not a little kid anymore._   
_ Me too, Hilde...why don't you stay here tonight?_   
_ Really, Duo? It's what I've always wanted..._   
_ Me too, Hild'. C'mon, my room is right over here..._   
_ Oh, Duo._   
_ Hilde._   
"Duo?"   
Duo blinked sleepily. "Hil...hilde?"   
Hilde had her eyes shut tight, and was poking Duo, who was still in the tub. "Duo. You fell asleep, I think. It's been an hour and its nearly eleven. So get out and get dressed and go to bed."   
Duo yawned again and closed his eyes once more. "Naw."   
Hilde turned away, feeling like she might cry. Why did Duo have to be so troublesome? If he would just get out and get dressed, then they could talk, about everything...   
Feeling determined, Hilde grabbed a towel, turned around, plucked Duo from the tub and wrapped him in the towel so fast that Duo yelped.   
"ACK! Hilde, what the...eep!" He grinned sheepishly at Hilde, who was grinning. "That's what happens when you don't listen to your babysitter. Now c'mon - get dressed, and we can talk."


	4. Page 4

  
  
  


**~*Fics*~**   
No Need for Rebirth   


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page 4   


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"So...I mean, you had your mind, the entire time?"   
Hilde and Duo were sitting on Duo's bed, and while Duo was really supposed to be asleep, but Hilde kept pouncing him with questions.   
"Yes, Hilde." Duo yawned. "I could tell you things that would make you sleepless at night. But I won't." Yawning again, Duo cuddled his covers.   
Hilde looked thoughtful at this. "Oh...ew." She sighed, thinking of more questions. Duo yawned again, his eyes closed. Hilde smiled.   
_He looks so peaceful. I'm just gonna stop pestering him..._   
Smiling, Hilde reached down and brushed Duo's bangs from his eyes. A deep longing filled her, the knowledge that the one she loved would never be hers. She laughed quietly. He never loved her before, and he couldn't love her now. Even if he was the right age, he probably wouldn't...   
"Hilde?" Duo opened one eye sleepily and he reached up to grab her hand. "Stay with me."   
"I am," she whispered. Duo closed his eyes again and pulled on her hand. "Sleep with me. I'm lonely."   
"O...okay." Hilde laid down in the small bed next to Duo, and he immediately hugged her tightly.   
"Don't leave me without saying good-bye. You promise, Hilde?"   
"I promise."   
  
Heero slipped in around midnight, closing the front door behind him quietly. The house was dark, and he figured Duo must be asleep and Hilde was probably with him.   
_Did he tell her?_   
He climbed the stairs and poked his head into Duo's room; smiled.   
Hilde was sitting up against the backdrop of the bed, her head drooped and eyes closed. Duo was halfway in her lap, arms around her waist. Both asleep. Heero closed the door again, figuring Hilde had figured out one way or another. Besides, they looked cute. No point in disturbing them.   
Heero stood by the door for a while, feeling jealous, and sad. Jealous - it was obvious that Duo loved Hilde. His heart knew he couldn't love Heero anymore. Of course Duo must have always had a secret love for the blue haired girl.   
Sadness...   
He knew they could never be together. Duo had love for two people...neither of which he was allowed to be with. Heero had had his part. But Hilde and Duo...   
Sighing, Heero went downstairs. He put his hands in his pockets and felt the small glass vial there. Duo said Ling had given it to him...Heero decided to call Wufei up and find out just what it would do.

Hilde stumbled downstairs the next morning, her back aching from falling asleep sitting up. She stared at Heero, who was sitting on the couch crosslegged, staring at the vial.   
"Hey Heero...sorry I fell asleep, you should have woken me up!"  
"Neh. You two looked so cute that I couldn't. Besides, my head was ringing from being loudly told that it was weak to call people at half past midnight. Anyways...you might be glad that you stayed. When Duo wakes up I have something I have to tell him..."   
Heero looked once more at the glass vial in his hands. Hilde peered down at it.   
"What's that?"   
"Something that will help Duo kill Relena. Today."   
"Today?"   
"Yes."   
"I can kill Relena today?"   
Duo was sitting on the stairs, looking down at them. He slowly made his way over.   
"How can I kill her today, Heero?"   
Duo and Hilde both stared at Heero as he stood up, shaking the vial.   
"This is a potion, Duo. It will make you the age you would be if you hadn't died-"   
"HEERO!" Duo leapt at him suddenly, reaching for the vial. "Heero, give it to me! I want to be my normal age. God, Heero!"   
Hilde's eyes had also brightened at this prospect, but she didn't pounce Heero. Duo was whimpering and straining for the potion like a wild animal.   
"DUO! Let me finish! You can only stay that way for...less than a day! It wears off, Duo! But you'll be able to kill Relena...and..."   
"Less than...a day? Heero, if I drink it all, maybe-"   
"No, Duo...that won't work. Don't you think I asked that already?"   
"I don't care. Maybe it will. GIVE IT!"   
Duo grabbed the bottle and uncorked it, swallowing every last drop of liquid.   
"Maybe..."   
Heero looked down, shaking. "Duo, he said it'll hurt. It'll be the most painful-"   
But he stopped talking. Duo was trembling uncontrollably, twitching and flinching.   
"Heero...!"   
Duo started yelling at the top of his lungs. He was raised into the air, and as if he was being pulled by some invisible hand, his arms and legs elongated, his hair grew longer, and the clothes he had been wearing fell, ripped to shreds. Duo stopped yelling and went limp, dropping to the ground.   
Silence.   
Hilde looked away, whimpering, unnerved by Duo's shouts. Heero ran forward and picked Duo up.   
"He's only unconscious. Get me a blanket or something!"   
"R...right." Hilde ran upstairs, while Heero laid Duo down on the couch.   
"Dammit, Duo, I warned you. Wake up..."   
Hilde ran back down and handed a blanket to Heero, her eyes squeezed shut tightly. Heero unceremoniously threw the blanket over Duo, only leaving his face exposed.   
Hilde and Heero didn't speak. Both were staring at Duo. It was awkward, but wonderful...the little boy who had been fighting with Heero a minute ago laid before them, now fully grown, the man both of them loved, at one point or another. Heero, not knowing what else to do and stupefied by seeing Duo normal again, poked him.   
"Duo...wake up."   
Duo's eyes fluttered, and he grinned at Heero. "Thanks for the warning about...ugh...how much it would hurt. Heh-heh."   
Hilde started to cry loudly at the sound of Duo's deep, sardonic voice. Duo sat up, wincing.   
"That hurts...Hilde, whassa-matter now?"   
Hilde couldn't stand it. She stood up, her hand over her eyes, and fled upstairs. Duo blinked.   
"Did my face turn out deformed or something?"   
Heero shook his head. "No, you look just the same as you always did. That's the trouble, I think. I'd cry, if I remembered how, Duo." Heero smiled weakly. Duo grinned back and looked down at himself.   
"Where...where's my clothes at? You and Hilde are perverts!"   
"No...they got ripped off when you changed." Heero pointed at the pile of rags on the floor. Duo laughed. "Ooohh...hehe. I knew that. And here I was, thinking you and Hilde were molesting me in my sleep. Ha-ha!"   
Heero stood shakily. "Yah, well you might want to get dressed before Relena gets home. I'm gonna go out. Clean up any messes you make and don't blood stain the rug in the hall because it cost a hell of a lot of money."   
Duo made a pouty face. "Do you have any of my old...other clothes? Like my pants or my hat? Possibly my boots? Say you doooo..." Duo's eyes watered fakely.   
Heero sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, I do in fact. In my closet, the black box. Your shoes are...somewhere in there. I'm gonna go now, ok?"   
He couldn't take it - it hurt him deeply to see Duo like this again, and his insides seemed as if they were being torn apart. Duo seemed to understand, but his childish instinct couldn't hold him back.   
"Heero...Daddy...mm...carry me?" He held out his arms to Heero.   
Heero just laughed.

"I'm...home!"   
Relena inched her way into the dark house, wincing as if expecting to be hit.   
"Heero? Duo? Anyone home?"   
Closing the door behind her, Relena set down her bag and stretched out.   
_Good to be home...but where is everyone?_   
She heard something clatter upstairs...and not knowing how utterly stupid it was to do so, she headed upstairs.   
"Duo? Heero?"   
"Relena."   
Relena gasped. A dark figure stood at the top of the stairs, then turned and ran off down the hall. Relena stormed up. "HEY! Who are you!? Get out of my house!"   
She heard the cock of a gun and fear fluttered in her heart. She backed up against the banister.   
"Who...who's there? Go...go away! What did you to to my son and husband?!"   
"I'm going to save them."   
Duo stepped out from the shadows, his hat casting black over his eyes. With the added darkness, it looked like he had stepped out from a demon world. Relena shuddered. "Duo...Maxwell...how...leave here!"   
"No, Relena." Duo's voice shook. "I know it's not honorable to kill your mother, but I lost all my honor the day I was born to you."   
Relena gulped, her face hardening. "I knew it. Heero lied to me!"   
"Yes, Relena. You want to know why? Because he knows."   
Relena shuddered.   
"He knows you killed me and he sees how you mistreat me each day. A child is something you treasure, not a doll you play with. Maybe I would have just lived on happily with you if only you were a good mother. But you aren't good at much, are you, Relena?"   
Relena gulped again. "I...I'm a good mom! How did you get to be...like this?!"   
"That...is a secret. Relena. Remember when you shot me? Right...here." Duo put his finger to the middle of his chest. "Wanna know how it felt?"   
"NO! You wouldn't kill me!" Relena suddenly laughed. "I'm your mother! You won't!"   
"You would think that, wouldn't you."   
Bang.   
The sound echoed throughout the house, and Hilde, hiding out and watching from Heero's room, shuddered and closed her eyes. Relena slumped back against the banister, a trickle of blood dripping from her mouth. Duo stood, smoking gun in hand.   
"Did that hurt, Relena? Well, I'm nice. I won't let you suffer like you did to me, Mother."   
Three more gunshots rang out and Relena let out a strangled sob, clutching her chest as blood pooled around her.   
"Does it still hurt, mom? I'm sorry. Let me end it for you."   
Duo stepped up, and lifting his leg, kicked Relena square in the chest. With a strangled choke and creak of snapping wood, Relena was hurled out into the air, falling three stories to land with a sickening crunch on the hardwood ground below. Duo peered down, and threw the gun after her.   
"Bye bye."   
He fell to his knees in the pool of blood, and shook, head down. Hilde ran out, slipping a little, and fell beside him, hugging him tightly.   
"Duo..."   
Duo laughed a little. "I only ever shot one other person. Heero-! And Relena scolded me for it. I was the bad guy."   
He looked up at Hilde, and she was shocked to see he was crying.   
"I'm not the bad guy...right, Hilde?"   
"Duo...no. You only gave her what she deserved. And more."   
Not minding the blood drying on their hair and skin, Hilde and Duo sat for a long time near the broken banister, in silence. Hilde never took her arms from around Duo.

Quatre clutched his chest. Trowa and Heero looked over.   
"Quatre?"   
Shaking his head, Quatre shook. "He did it. She's gone. I can feel it."   
Heero bowed his head, not saying anything for a while. Then he laughed.   
"If he got stains on my carpet, so help him God-!"   
Trowa and Quatre laughed weakly.   
"You gonna go back, Heero?"   
"No...no." Heero grabbed a blanket and laid down on the couch, staring at the ceiling. "I'm sleeping here tonight. I think Duo and Hilde will want to be alone."   
Quatre looked over at Trowa and both grinned sheepishly at Heero.

"Hilde."   
"Mmm?"   
Duo stood up, looking at the caked blood on his arms and legs. He could feel in it in his hair and on his face. Looking down at Hilde, he saw she wasn't much better off. He held out his hand and helped her up.   
"I'm gonna take a bath, Hilde."   
"All...all right." Hilde started downstairs. Duo kept hold of her hand.   
"You help me."   
Hilde turned red, and brushed her bangs out of her face. Looking up, she smiled at Duo.   
"All right."   
Duo smiled back.

Water gushed out of the tap into the oversized spa like tub. Hilde and Duo faced one another.   
Slowly, Duo reached out, pulling Hilde's cap off. He slid his hands down her neck, unbuttoning her purple shirt. Hilde shuddered, and reached out, sliding off Duo's black baseball cap before slowly starting to unbutton his shirt, also.   
Both shirts slid to the ground. Duo stared down at them, then grinned up at Hilde.   
"Too slow. Race ya!"   
"You basterd!"   
Hilde laughed. Both of them threw off the rest of their clothes and practically fell into the tub, laughing. Duo grinned over at Hilde, who was blushing and had her arms crossed over her chest.   
He whispered. "Don't be scared." Reaching out, he took her in, holding her close. Hilde loosened, letting her arms fall.   
_Feels warm. And nice._   
Duo shook, trying to keep himself from going erect. He didn't want to do anything like that to Hilde. Why did he feel like this, now?   
_Girls never did this to me before. Make it stop, godammit!_   
Hilde giggled at Duo's obvious struggle. She ruffled his hair. "Aw...Duo's a big boy now." She covered her mouth, snickering.   
"Oh, shut up!" Duo splashed water at her and grabbed some shampoo. "I'll blind you, that's what I'll do."   
Hilde yelped and closed her eyes tight. Duo laughed. "I didn't mean it. Sorry." He brightened. "Wanna wash my hair for me? I...can't reach."   
"Fine, you big baby. Turn around."   
Duo obediently did and Hilde looked at various shampoos. "So um...bubblegum blaster or strawberry happiness...or coconut dreams?"   
Duo laughed weakly. "Hey, talk to Relena. Oh wait - she's dead. Er, I'll take the coconut dreams." He snickered despite himself.   
"Ok then." Hilde poured some of the shampoo into her hand, then lathered it into Duo's long, tangled hair. Duo stared ahead, thinking.   
"I wish...I would stay like this forever."   
Hilde sighed. "Me too, Duo. Me too."   
"At least I have tonight."   
"Yes. At least we have tonight."   
Duo turned around and looked at Hilde, who put her hands down.   
"Hilde..."   
"No Duo. I want to."   
"I can't, Hilde."   
"Duo...it will be my one memory of you."   
"It'll hurt you, Hild'."   
"I know."   
Duo looked down slightly and whispered. "Well, hurry up then."   
Hilde whispered back. "I will."

Ten minutes later, Duo and Hilde collapsed onto the master bed in Heero's room. They explored each other's mouths with their tongues, moaning and whimpering as they kissed fiercely. Hilde ran her hands through Duo's still damp hair, causing him to shudder. Slowly, he moved down, kissing her neck, lapping her all in. Hilde arched her back, laying on the bed, as Duo's tongue flickered over her sensitive nipple. He gently sucked, not wanting to hurt her in the slightest. Hilde whimpered and moaned, knowing what Duo was doing. "Don't...hold back, Duo. This is my...only time..."   
Duo straightened up, looking down at Hilde with a great sadness. "Hilde...I can't..." He reached out to stroke her cheek.   
"No, Duo." Hilde opened her eyes, and grabbed his hand. "Hold me, Duo."   
"Okay..." Duo wrapped his arms around her, trying not to cry. Hilde brushed his hair aside, whispering. "Take me, Duo. I want you to do it. Take it...please...Duo..."   
"I can't hurt you, Hilde." Duo held back tears. "I can't. I won't. I-ACK!"   
Hilde had reached down, taking hold of Duo's erection with her free hand. She grinned mischievously at him. "Duo...I said, TAKE IT."   
Duo squeaked. "Oh...Okay."   
Hilde let him go and reached up, kissing him again, taking his face in her hands. Duo kissed back, moaning into Hilde's mouth as he entered her. He broke the kiss, and gazed down at her.   
"Hilde...I'm so sorry, Hilde..."   
Hilde gasped in pain as Duo broke her virgin barrier. He winced. "No...Hilde..."   
Taking deep gulps of air, Hilde closed her eyes tight. "Duo, don't stop! DUO!"   
"Hilde..." Duo started stroking in and out, faster and faster. Hilde's pain faded with each tight stroke, and she clutched the edges of the bed as she reached her climax.   
"DUO-OOO!"   
Duo reached out and held her, tears in his eyes at the pain he knew he caused her. He gritted his teeth and he came.   
With a gasp, the both of them fell limp against each other. Hilde nuzzled Duo's neck, her hands still wrapped around him.   
"I love you."   
Duo tried to speak, but his exhaustion was greater than it had even been before. He just smiled weakly, closing his eyes.   
"Tired..."   
"Don't be tired, Duo."   
Duo blinked down at her. _Huh?_   
Hilde smiled, brushing Duo's bangs from his eyes. "I'm never going to be in love again, Duo. Give me all you've got while you can."   
If Duo wanted to protest, he didn't get the chance, because Hilde kissed him deeply, tightening her muscles around Duo's weakening erection and causing his eyes to bug out.

By the time Heero got home around six A.M., all had just gone quiet. He walked into the kitchen and started making coffee, peering out the window at the sunrise. He had conveniently ignored Relena's battered body lying near the stairs.   
_Didn't stain my carpet, at least._   
He sat at the table and sipped his coffee, waiting for Duo or Hilde to come downstairs. He wondered if he should start making pancakes or waffles.

Hilde yawned, slowly sitting up. She felt weak all over, but she was happy. Smiling at the sun sparkling in through the windows, she turned to look at Duo.   
"Duo...oh, Duo."   
She reached out and stroked the hair of the small sleeping boy next to her, whispering. "Thank you, Duo."   
Watching him for a minute more, holding back her tears, Hilde then got out of bed and started getting dressed.

"Pancakes, or waffles?"   
Hilde jumped as she walked into the kitchen to see Heero sitting at the table.   
"That's ok. I'm not hungry."   
Heero stood up, wagging a finger. "Yes, you are. Pancakes, or waffles?"   
Hilde smiled slightly. "Waffles, please."   
"You got it." Heero pulled a box out of the freezer.   
"So...where's Duo?"   
"He's upstairs still. Sleeping."   
"Must be tired." Heero shook the box, wondering how many waffles were left. Hilde looked down, blushing, and didn't say anything else.   
"Well he...he turned back." Hilde closed her eyes and sighed.   
"Did he? When?"   
"I...I don't know." Hilde thought back. "Sometime between six A.M. and now."   
"Six, huh. He'll be asleep for a while."   
Hilde and Heero exchanged glances, and they both laughed.

~[page 5, no da][1]~   


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[top. daaa.][2]   
  
The G-Boys and Gundam Wing don't belong to Yama. PU! XP~

   [1]: collection_fics_rebirth5.html
   [2]: #top



	5. Page 5

~No Need for Rebirth~   
yaoi, some humor. a more serious, twisted fic. slight angst. non-yaoi lemon.   
[1/2 ; 2/H ; 3/4 ]   
Relena kills Duo to get at Heero. It works; but not like Relena planned. Duo is reborn as her and Heero's son, and will stop at nothing to avenge himself.   


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page 5   


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"Mmmmm...eh?"   
Duo sat up, awake finally. He glanced out the window, then down at himself. He felt like crying.   
"Hil...Hilde?" He didn't see her, and her clothes were gone.   
"No! WAIT! HILDE!"   
Duo pulled on his oversized shirt and scrambled downstairs. Heero was in the kitchen drinking coffee.   
"He...Heero...Hil...de...wh...ere..." Duo clutched his chest, totally winded.   
Heero looked over. "It's one o'clock, Duo. Hilde stayed here all morning, went up to say goodbye, but you were asleep. You really should still be asleep. All the exhaustion you earned yourself was crammed into your four-year old body when you changed back and I'm relieved you woke up at all. Just...she had to go back, the yard opens at one thirty on saturdays. She stayed as long as she-"   
"NO!" Duo stood up, leaning against a wall, breathing hard. "She wouldn't leave without saying goodbye! And..." He glanced over to the kitchen table, where a black, once pink, puffy hat was sitting. "...she forgot her hat, I'm going after her!"   
"Duo..."   
Duo ran to the door, threw on his shoes, and ran out, shirt dragging behind and and Hilde's hat in his hand. Heero sighed and shook his head.

"HILDE!"   
Duo ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk that went the entire circumference of the colony, quickly growing tired and unbalanced.   
"HILD-AUGH!"   
Duo tripped, landing on his arm and skidding a few feet on the concrete. Long bloody scratches appeared on his face and arm along with a distinct cracking sound. He winced, and sat up, shaking. He looked down at his bloodied arm, which felt as if it were on fire. The broken bone poked through his skin.   
Duo whimpered, then silently collapsed, sobbing quietly.

"Duo."   
Hilde turned around, almost halfway back to the scrap yard. It was a long way from Heero's, but she wanted to walk so she had time to think.   
Now she was sure she had heard Duo's voice, and she turned around. "Duo...?"   
Far behind her she saw a small figure strangely resembling a black ratty kitten curled up on the sidewalk. Hilde started to run back the way she had come.   
"OH! Duo...Duo, wake up!"   
She knelt down beside him and gingerly fingered the scratches on his face. When she noticed the broken arm, she gasped and felt slightly sick. She winced, and in the silence noticed Duo's quiet sobbing. He turned to look at her.   
"I'm sorry...I just...wanted...well...here's your hat."   
He sat up using his good arm, and nudged the hat over to her. Hilde picked it up, then looked back at Duo.   
"Oh...you're hopeless. Come on, I'll take you to my place and we can fix you up." Hilde gently took Duo in her arms and started back towards the scrap yard. Duo giggled slightly, giddy with the loss of blood and exaushtion he felt.   
"Hee hee...good thing you found me 'coz if daddy did he'z fix me arm in'a railing."

"So...he's sleeping then?"   
"Yes. He's alright. I put his arm in a splint after he fell unconscious and it didn't hurt him."   
Hilde's voice shook slightly, and it was obvious over the phone. Heero frowned to himself.   
"You gonna be ok?"   
"Yes. ...yes."   
"All right then...just have him back by the end of the day, ok? No funny stuff, and don't get him upset."   
"Ok."   
"And when you drop him off, I want you to stay for a bit. To discuss something."   
"What?"   
"You'll see. Bye." There was a click as Heero abruptly hung up the phone, leaving Hilde baffled.

Heero stared at the phone for a bit, then down at the second little glass vial he'd held this week.   
"We'll see, Hilde. We'll see."

Duo blinked, sitting up abruptly as he awoke. For a second, crazed thoughts flashed in his head.   
_Was all that a dream? Am I sixteen again, back in the scrap yard? Did I just fall asleep on the couch like always and dream all that bullshit?_   
In the next minute as Duo stretched his arms out and yelped with the pain, reality came crashing down on his head.   
Literally.   
"AIE! DUO!" Hilde stumbled backwards. She had been setting a lunch tray down near Duo when he had suddenly woken up, stretched out, hit the tray and brought it all down on his head.   
"DUO! Are you ok? Oh, I'm so sorry!" Hilde dropped to the ground and starting picking up the spilt food, on the verge of tears. Duo stared, then looked at his bloodied and splinted arm, firey with pain, then noticed the gobs of whatever Hilde had made for lunch dripping from his hair. He started to laugh.   
"Hee-hee! You never were a cook, Hilde. Eh, neither is Heero. Hee-hee! What did you guys do without me?" Duo grinned, and picked food from his bangs.   
Hilde looked up, startled. She wasn't expecting this at all. "Duo...aren't you...? Oh nevermind. If I'm such a bad cook then you make lunch."   
She laughed, and Duo frowned. "What's so funny? I will! I'll go make lunch right now!" He hopped down from the couch and headed for the kitchen. A minute later Hilde started to laugh harder as Duo's voice drifted to her.   
"Er...got a stool, or something?"

"Sorry."   
"No, that's fine. I like fast-food, anyhow."   
Duo took a sip of soda. "I'd better get home soon, Hilde. Heero'll worry and being in my old house is freaking me out. When I woke up I thought everything was a dream. Hah-hah!"   
"Hah-hah." Hilde laughed weakly, staring down at the food. She pulled the picture out of her pocket and stared it.   
Duo peered over. "Do you always have that picture with you? Is it your favourite?"   
"M-hm." Hilde nodded, eyes bright. "It is. Here..."   
She reached under the couch and pulled out a photo album, handing it over.   
"WOW! Hilde, geez! You kept all these stupid pictures?"   
Duo flipped through the book, laughing now and then. A lot of these pictures he had never seen before. It looked as though Hilde had sometimes just taken random pictures of him for no reason other than she could. He laughed at pictures of himself licking ice cream cones, fixing his braid, working on deathscythe, stuffing his face with food...   
Hilde blushed and didn't look, as she knew all the pictures by heart anyways. It was embarrassing her for some reason, that Duo was seeing all her obsession for him even from so many years ago.   
"Can...can I keep this one?"   
Duo held up a picture of him, Heero, and Hilde. Duo was in the middle, his arms around Hilde and Heero's shoulders. Heero looked pissed and Hilde was grinning sheepishly.   
Hilde laughed. "All right, go ahead. Just don't lose it, I like that picture."   
Duo nodded, and put the picture in his pocket. "I won't...I'm...sleepy..." Duo inched over and crawled into Hilde's lap, curling into a ball, his bad arm sticking out, and soon falling asleep.   
_Hm...he looks so peaceful...I hate to move him but..._   
Hilde stood up, cradling Duo in her arms, and started down the street to take him home.

Heero stared at the vial until he heard the door open and Hilde call out.   
"Heero?"   
"In here. Lay Duo down on the couch."   
"Ok...Heero...what were you talking about earlier?"   
Hilde walked into the kitchen where Heero was sitting. It was dark outside now, and by the way the wind howled it was obvious a storm was on it's way.   
"This, Hilde." Heero held up the vial.   
"Isn't that what made Duo-"   
"No. This is different. This is permanent."   
Hilde's eye lit up. "You...you mean...Duo can...stay...?"   
"No." Heero shook his head, and Hilde slumped down into a chair, confused. "Wha...what then?"   
"This potion doesn't make someone older. It makes them younger."   
Hilde looked up, despair in her voice. "But why would we want to make Duo younger than he already is?"   
Heero just stared at Hilde. Her eyes slowly widened as she realized what Heero was saying.   
"But..."   
"Hilde, if you did this, it wouldn't be fun or easy. You'd be giving up your life as you know it. I might be able to keep hold of the scrap yard until you or Duo could manage it again but maybe not."   
Without a word, Hilde just held her hand out.   
"Hilde. Think for a moment before you do this. You'll have to start all over again, just like Duo. From age four. You can see how hard it is on him."   
"Heero...I want to do this. I'd lose my job, my life and my friends, I'd die a thousand times...but...if in the end, I can stay with Duo...forever...I...I...give me the bottle, Heero!"   
Hilde's hand shook as Heero dropped the small bottle into it. She stared at it for a minute, two minutes, three. Then she looked up.   
"I can...stay here...with you and Duo...and Quatre and Trowa...?"   
"If you wish."   
"Really be part of the family..." Hilde clutched the bottle tight. "I never felt like I was before...maybe...now..."   
Without another word, Hilde uncorked the bottle and downed the liquid inside. Eyes watering, she walked over to the couch where Duo slept.   
"Duo..."   
_I'm coming._

"Wake up. You're sleeping on your arm funny. Want to break it worse? I have a nice old bicycle rail..."   
"UGH! Ok, I'm awake now." Duo sat up and wiped his eyes with his free hand, staring around. Sunlight filtered in through the huge windows.   
"Did Hilde bring me back then go home again, I guess? Eh...at least she let me keep the picture I wanted."   
Duo pulled out the snapshot and grinned at it. Heero frowned. "No, she didn't go home. Actually, her and I have been up most of the night, talking and stuff. Making some plans and sorting some things out."   
"You...stayed up with Hilde...WAIT." Duo glared at Heero. "Just talking, right?"   
"Right."   
"Nothing funny, right?"   
"I would never do that to a four year old."   
"Good. Because if I ever found out...huh?" Duo blinked, then laughed. "Hilde isn't four, I am. I think you must have been drinking something, Heero."   
"No. Hilde is four."   
Heero grinned crazily, then laughed. Duo laughed, weakly, then louder. "HA-ha! That's really funny...now there's a pill you can take for hangovers..."   
"Oh, Duo."   
"What?" Duo stared at Heero, who was suddenly acting normal once more.   
"You have a new roommate."   
"I...huh?"   
Heero peered over the top of the couch and nodded. Duo raised an eyebrow, staring at the small person who meekly came out from behind the couch.   
Draped in her now-huge purple sweater, and overly-large hat, a shorter, smaller, four-year old Hilde pushed her hair from her face with a small hand and smiled weakly at Duo.   
"Hi. I'm your new room mate. My name's Hilde. What's yours?"   
Duo stared, open mouthed for a moment, before realizing what he was seeing.   
"Hilde...you...wha?!"   
Hilde just grinned and pulled herself onto the couch, wrapping her arms around Duo and grinning.   
"Don't you see, Duo? Now we can always be together...and then, when we're old enough..."   
Duo's eyes watered. "Hilde...you did this...for me?"   
Closing her eyes, Hilde pulled back and held out her hand in a peace sign. "No. I turned into a four year old because I FELT like it."   
Duo grinned, then laughed. Hilde laughed too.   
Heero smiled, turning away and coughing slightly.   
"If any kids turn out before the two of you are eighteen, I swear I'll send you both to the orphanage, that's what I'll do."   
Duo and Hilde just laughed harder. Heero grinned at them, coughing once more.   
_Stupid cold._

How was he supposed to know it was deadly?   
Thirteen years later, Heero was condemned to the hospital with a tumor blockage in his left lung. By the summer, it was certain he wouldn't make it to Christmas.   
Duo visited him every day. He told him they had found out his and Hilde's baby was going to be a boy. How they sold the scrap yard and had moved in right near Quatre and Trowa, although with the lion pen outback, he didn't think they'd let the baby wander around on his own very much, once he was born.   
Heero just smiled and nodded peacefully through Duo's long talks.   
_How fair. Let me live then kill me off once I'm useless. Ah, well. Id've been dead long ago if it wasn't for Duo._   
Heero weakly reached up, grabbing Duo's hand. Duo stopped talking and stared down at Heero.   
"Wha...what is it?"   
"Duo...you just make sure you watch after Hilde. And Quatre and Trowa too...you know how they get."   
"Heh-heh, Heero, stop it."   
"No. And I want you to be good to your baby. You know what the poor thing is going through."   
"And don't I."   
Heero let go of Duo's hand and sank back into the nice, soft pillow. "Stay here with me, Duo."   
"Alright."   
Heero coughed, closing his eyes. His breath was shallow.   
"At least...at least I got to see that you ended up happy."   
Duos eyes watered. He grabbed Heero's hand.   
"Heero...look...when I died, a part of my soul died too. And it wasn't reborn with me. I still loved you, but you're my dad now...my true love for you never came back. Maybe...I dunno...maybe...Heero...? Heero..."   
Duo let Heero's hand fall. He stared for a moment at the man who had given all, for Duo's happiness.   
"Ah, Heero..."   
Duo slowly laid his head down on Heero's chest, and cried.

_Sand._   
Heero looked down at the sand. It was getting into his boots and he really didn't like it. He shook out his green shirt to make sure there wasn't any sand in it.   
Looking around, Heero could see nothing more than beach, sand, a big rock.   
_Stupid rock. You broke my leg and my fall. I might have been dead long ago if it wasn't for you, stupid, stupid rock._   
Heero looked up as he heard derisive laughter drift over the sound of the waves gently hitting the shore.   
_Is it really stupid, Heero? I mean...if you had died, would you have ever married me? Ha-ha!_   
_ Aw, Duo._   
Duo stepped out of the shadows, his black hat nearly covering his face. He looked up; grinned.   
_If I had a gun, I'd shoot you for thinking such things!_   
_ You did, remember?_   
_ That was because Relena was cuddling you._   
_ Oh yah._   
Duo grinned wider, and pounced Heero, knocking the bigger boy to the ground.   
_So cuddle me, Heero._   
_ ...o...okay._   
Heero cradled Duo's cheek in his hand as their lips met. Heero tried to hold back the tears, but he couldn't.   
And he stayed on the beach with Duo.

~owari, no da~   
[please post comments or criticisms! ^_^.] 

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NOTES ON THIS FIC:   
[sniffles] This fic makes me sad...and for anyone who got confused at the end, Heero died. He went to his little afterlife place, and met there the spirit of Duo who had loved him, not as a father, but as a lover. Does this mean that Duo wasn't reborn? No...he was reborn...but Heero was his dad! Of course that love wouldn't be reborn with him. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it...please post comments or something on it! I'm proud of this fic, as I said before...


End file.
